'We're getting there': Southridge Mall chips away at revitalization

Southridge Mall, a once thriving shopping center has undergone a slow redevelopment over the past five years and it's showing signs of positive growth.
Kelsey Kremer / The Register

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Outside Southridge Mall on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Des Moines. It's been six years since owners began revitalizing the mall on the southern edge of Des Moines.(Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register)Buy Photo

It's been nearly six years since the owners of Southridge Mall undertook a major redevelopment plan to breathe new life into the approximately 117-acre property on Des Moines' south side.

An ambitious $35 million renovation transformed the former enclosed mall into an open-air shopping center with a courtyard and outdoor access to most stores.

Des Moines Area Community College opened a 65,000-square-foot Center for Career and Professional Development where JCPenney once operated.

In the last year, a medical clinic broke ground and a senior living facility opened.

Now there are plans to build 288 apartments south of Younkers, expand the DMACC campus and add a Drake University-led Head Start program.

"They've got the key building blocks in place to be successful building those additional layers," said Rita Conner, economic development coordinator for the city.

"If they can keep chipping away at it, they'll revive it."

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Robert Allison, a DMACC welding instructor works with one of his students, Myleka Fox on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, at the Iowa Welding Institute in the DMACC Southridge Center in Des Moines. DMACC moved into the former JC Penny wing of Southridge Mall and remolded it into a campus with the wedding lab, automotive technology labs and traditional classrooms. (Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register)

It's been 12 years since the city and a group of neighborhood associations developed a south-side revitalization plan to address the overabundance of retail in the area — most of which was blighted.

It was clear the mall would be a critical piece of the puzzle. If it were converted and redeveloped successfully, it could bolster the whole area, Conner said.

"There was a point in the discussion where we felt that the mall believed that there wasn't enough density, enough buying population here on the south side. And we urged them to rethink that false belief," said Joe Henry, an Iowa Realty agent who specializes in the south-side market. "Eventually the light came on. It's not just in West Des Moines, the potential is here in the south side."

The Macerich Company, the mall's owner, launched its massive makeover in February 2012. The city provided incentive through tax increment financing.

Conner, at the time, said the Santa Monica-based real estate investment company had determined Southridge Mall was the poorest performer in its national portfolio.

Nearly 300,000 square feet of retail space was demolished and replaced with 100,000 square feet of storefronts opening to a courtyard and parking lot.

Many retailers like Marshalls and Shoe Carnival returned, but several of the mall's storefronts remain vacant, including an anchor spot that once housed a Sears store. Macerich declined interview requests for this story.

Macerich undertook a redevelopment plan for Southridge Mall in February 2012.(Photo: Special to the Register)

One main driver of the renovation was DMACC's campus. Macerich sold the former JCPenney site to the college for $1.

The Center for Career and Professional Development offers classes in automotive tech, building trades, criminal justice, health, teaching, visual communications and welding. It caters to high school, college and ESL students, and adults completing their high school credits.

For DMACC, it was a chance to fill a gap in its central Iowa locations and class offerings, said President Rob Denson. The mall's abundance of parking and ease of access to Target and Hy-Vee were appealing.

The school was essentially full in its first year, Denson said.

Macerich has given DMACC another 20,000-square-feet that will be converted to additional classrooms and office space this year.

"It's just been going gangbusters," Denson said.

And the relationship works both ways.

For Macerich, DMACC's location means more feet on the ground at Southridge Mall nearly every day of the week. DMACC served more than 6,000 students last year at its Southridge location.

"I've got to believe that the more bodies that we get on the premises, the better it is for the businesses there," Denson said. "We're bringing people in of all ages. We're providing additional exposure for them, so it's just a good symbiotic relationship."

Since the mall's renovation, several more projects have taken shape, including:

A full remodel of the Target store;

An expansion and remodel of Hy-Vee;

And the opening of the 51-unit Southridge Senior living facility.

UnityPoint recently broke ground on a 14,000-square-foot family practice and urgent care facility.

TWG Development is building 288 apartment units that will be a mix of market-rate and affordable one bedroom and two bedroom apartments, just south of Southridge Mall.(Photo: TWG Development/Special to the Register)

And Indianapolis-based developer TWG Development is set to break ground on a 10-building apartment complex early this year. The 288 units will be a mix of market-rate and affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Sam Rogers, TWG development director, said the buildings will have a modern look similar to what's offered downtown, and they will tie in with the forest preserve south of the property. The buildings will be laid out in a neighborhood, grid-like system to encourage foot traffic between the development and the mall, he said.

The apartments are expected to be open for leasing by the end of the year.

"When we started to look at the city, we targeted the Southridge Mall for the workforce there," Rogers said. "We thought it worked well in the redevelopment of the mall, to be a part of that exciting piece, but also that area seemed liked it needed a newer, nicer product."

Meanwhile, Drake University will open a Head Start program Thursday inside Southridge Mall. It will offer five classrooms that serve 84 children ages 2 to 4 years old and employ 12 staff members.

All those things give Southridge Mall the foot traffic it needs to continue its renaissance, Conner said. Because most people won't pass Southridge on a bike or on foot, it's critical to have those key elements of education and housing in place, she said.

"Hopefully that spurs additional retail, additional (restaurants)," Conner said. "The kinds of things that if you’ve got a concentration of people you should be able to attract."

And that could spur additional investment along the Army Post corridor, she said.

A mile west of the mall, Blackbird Investments is converting four century-old Army barracks and two horse stables at Fort Des Moines into 142 low-income apartments. The renovation will cost $40 million.

Henry, the south-side real estate agent, said neighborhood leaders are pleased with the mall's progress and its impact on the area.

"There are key things that people look for when they’re buying a home — they look for good schools and places to shop," he said. "We have those opportunities now for people to come over here and stay."

Henry said south-side neighbors are now eager to see more stores come to the mall "to really seal the deal" for Southridge's ultimate success.

"We're getting there," he said. "Nobody thought it could happen. And it's happening."